Vasco da Gama’s head coach Andrew Pequeno was a relieved man following their 3-1 win over his former Hanover Park FC side at Downberg Road on Friday evening – to ease their relegation woes.
One can hardly believe that the word “relegation” and “Vasco” are used in the same sentence, but that was their reality coming into this ABC Motsepe League encounter against a side where he had great success.
Vasco could only manage two wins from eight matches coming into the fixture against his friend and former assistant, Anwar Gallant, who now coaches HP.
There is one plausible excuse for their slow start though – their fantastic run in the Nedbank Cup where they progressed to the Round of 16, only to be beaten by fellow second division rivals, Jacksa Spears from the Northern Cape.
Pequeno had Luciano Johnson (pictured), who bagged a brace, and one from Cole Jacobs, to thank who secured maximum points for the visitors from Parow.
However, things weren’t as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, as matters looked bleak for Pequeno early in the first half as an own goal by his Vasco defence saw coach Anwar Gallant’s HP side draw first blood.
To their credit, Vasco didn’t panic and restored parity via Johnson which made Pequeno a bit more relieved going into the halftime break.
The second half belonged to Vasco after Johnson completed his brace capped off an okay performance for Pequeno. It was never really about the performance but rather the full bag of points which elevated them out of the relegation zone.
Next up for Vasco is FN Rangers, who were surprisingly beaten by 2-1 Cape Town Spurs at Ikamva on Saturday afternoon.
